THIS INVENTION relates to the pharmaceutical industry and is more specifically concerned with packaging medication for patients who are required to take a number of different medications in tablet or capsule form. Medication in tablet, capsule or similar non-liquid form will hereinafter be referred to as a dose.
Medication doses may vary in type and number over the daily period. Patients are often confused as to what type and number of doses they are required to take at a particular time, at what time the doses are to be taken, and finally having to recall whether they have already taken the prescribed doses for a particular time.
One method devised for overcoming this problem is to provide the patient with a pack containing an array of receptacles such as cups or blisters each corresponding to a particular time at which a number of doses are to be taken on a particular day, and arranging for a pharmacist to fill the cups or blisters of the pack with the correct doses as determined by a doctor""s prescription. For convenience such a pack is referred to hereinafter as a xe2x80x9cdose packxe2x80x9d. This involves a qualified chemist sitting down and laboriously dispensing the doses by hand into the individual cups or blisters of the pack. Bearing in mind that there may be up to twelve different types of dose to be taken over a period of one weekxe2x80x94which is the normal interval covered by a typical packxe2x80x94a substantial part of the pharmacists time is involved in filling packs rather than in attending to other duties he is required to perform as a pharmacist. An analogous problem arises when a pharmacist is required to provide a receptacle, such as a blister, with a number of different doses which a patient is to take at different times over an extended period such as a week. The hand-filling of the receptacle with the correct quantities of the different doses is both laborious and time-consuming.
An object of this invention is to enable doses to be loaded more quickly.
In accordance with the broadest aspect of this invention apparatus for dispensing medication doses, comprises: a tower of dose holders placed one above the other and respectively for storing different doses which are to be dispensed; a device for vibrating the tower in a predetermined manner to move the doses in the holders towards outlets provided therein; ejectors individually associated with the holders and operable to release required doses from the outlets of the holders; an open-ended collector into which the doses ejected from the holders fall; a loading station disposed beneath the open lower end of the collector and for supporting a receptacle which is to be loaded with a selected number of different doses ejected from the holders; and a controller operated in accordance with a pre-determined dose-loading programme and governing the operation of the ejectors.
In accordance with a narrower aspect of the invention apparatus for dispensing medication doses into a pack, comprises: a tower of separable superimposed and similar holders for respectively storing different doses which are to be dispensed; a device for vibrating the tower in a predetermined manner; a guide in each holder for responding to the vibrations of the tower by conveying the doses in the holders individually towards holder outlets having associated dose ejectors; a collector for receiving the doses ejected from the holders and discharging them towards a position at which a receptacle of a horizontally arranged array of receptacles is to be located; a support for holding the array of receptacles at a dose-loading location; a mechanism for producing a relative horizontal displacement between the support and the discharge end of the collector to enable the individual receptacles to be loaded with the desired combinations of doses; and, a controller operated in accordance with a predetermined dose-loading program and governing the operation of the ejectors and the relative movement between the collector and the support to enable the array of receptacles to be loaded in an automated manner with the desired combinations of doses as determined by the program. The receptacles may be blisters of a blister sheet for example, or separate cups. Once the receptacles have all been loaded, they can be hermetically sealed to provide a sheet of receptacles.
A pharmacist using the apparatus may construct the tower from holders each of which contains a set of doses. Thus if the receptacles to be loaded require eight different doses, the tower will have eight holders each containing one of the different doses.
Preferably the holders take the form of hollow, shallow cylindrical boxes each internally formed with an upwardly spiralling guide leading from the interior of the holder towards an outlet. Striations or ridges may be provided on the floor of the guide and the holder to facilitate the movement of the doses progressively towards the side and up the guide as the holder is vibrated.
Conveniently the tower is mounted on a base which is vibrated horizontally through a small arc by the device. The arc may be a degree or so long about the tower axis and is produced by a vibrator operating at, for example, 50 Hz. The arcuate velocity of the vibration is preferably greater in one direction than the other. The holders are so mounted that the vibration applied to the lowermost holder is transferred with very little attenuation upwardly through all of the holders of the tower. It is preferred that the center of the top of the tower is held on the upright longitudinal axis of the tower to prevent arcuate vibration of the upper holders along a conical path around the tower axis. The prevention of conical vibratory movement of the upper end-portion of the tower significantly increases the speed at which the doses advance up the guides towards the holder outlets.
In one arrangement of holder, a dose elector may be mounted in one side wail and, until operated, maintains the holder closed to prevent the entry of dust and particles into It from the ambient air. The ejector may be provided with a replacement element which is shaped to eject a particular shape and size of dose stored in the holder.